Spring Break Hotels Left In Shambles

April 1, 1989|By Pat LaMee and Brett Pulley of The Sentinel Staff

DAYTONA BEACH — Three hotels that were vandalized and trashed by spring breakers were closed for several hours Friday, and state inspectors asked 1,100 guests to leave because of health and safety hazards.

All the hotels were cleaned, repaired and reopened by Friday evening.

Inspectors responding to complaints by vacationers said they found urine in ice machines, vomit, feces and urine in halls and stairways, and rooms and halls so filthy that mushrooms, mildew or algae were growing there. Trash was stuffed beneath beds.

They also found loose balcony railings, faulty electrical wiring, fire systems with missing extinguishers and damaged fire hoses, and vandalized elevators, walls, floors and ceilings in some rooms.

''There were no problems like this with the bikers or Speed Week visitors,'' said Chet Cole, regional environmental health director for the state Division of Hotels and Restaurants.

''The owners are just going to have to control the students, hire additional guards and repair the vandalism immediately when it affects health and safety of the public,'' Cole said.

The Texan hotel, Holiday Inn Boardwalk and Sea Dip were closed for several hours while repairs were made and the mess cleaned up. Agents reissued the hotels' operating licenses late in the afternoon.

''We're back in business and hopefully spring break is over until 1990,'' said Dan Davis, sales director at the Sea Dip. ''I think we'll just take senior citizens next year.''

Allan Cohen, owner of The Texan, said, ''Spring break is a messy business, but it brings in millions.''

Cohen said a vandal broke out 16 windows in his hotel one evening. Most of the damage was caused by outsiders, he said.

''Daytona Beach is going to become a gold mine for security systems,'' Cohen said. ''I'll beef up security and it will be reflected in the rate.''

Infractions were found at 15 other motels, three of which may be closed next week unless violations are corrected, said Harry Hooper, general counsel for the state Department of Business Regulation. He declined to identify the other motels.

Community leaders said they have had enough.

Daytona Beach Mayor Larry Kelly said he will make recommendations to the city commission next Wednesday to avoid a repeat of what he described as one of the poorest managed spring breaks ever.

''It was evident to me that things were a little different this year than others. It was more crowded and loosely controlled than normal,'' Kelly said. ''I'm hoping that the business community and the city can work some of these things out. We both can benefit from it.''

Tyree Wilson, president of the Daytona Beach Halifax Area Chamber of Commerce, said a community task force is being assembled to deal with the growing spring break crowd.

Police have estimated that 400,000 college students and other youths descended on Daytona Beach within about three weeks. Because Easter came early this year, the students' visits were crowded into fewer weeks than normal.

''The spring break invasion is just out of control,'' Tyree said. ''It's something that the city has dealt with successfully for a long time and this year it wasn't dealt with successfully.''

The Hotel/Motel Association of the Daytona Beach Resort Area will discuss the need for beefed up spring break security within the next few weeks, said president Buddy LaCour, who operates the Holiday Inn that was closed.

State inspectors had visited the Sea Dip on Wednesday and found 31 health and safety violations. When they returned Friday morning, all but three of the infractions had been corrected, but the hotel, 1233 S. Atlantic Ave., was closed under emergency order, Davis said.

After a faulty air conditioner and broken window were repaired and missing room number plates replaced, the hotel reopened at 6:30 p.m.

Some of the 600 high school guests at the Sea Dip, angered after being asked to leave earlier, ''began throwing furniture and appliances off the top of the building,'' Davis said.

At The Texan, 701 S. Atlantic Ave., 500 students were moved out Friday morning. The hotel was inspected and reopened at 5:30 p.m., Cohen said.

At the Holiday Inn, 400 N. Atlantic Ave., one guest said the fourth floor was ''trashed'' and upholstery on some lobby furniture was burned. It took workers three hours to repair damage to the vandalized fire alarm system, LaCour said.

Guests were not asked to leave and the hotel reopened late in the afternoon after being closed about five hours, he said.

Two men said they would have been ''really steamed'' if they had been forced out of the Holiday Inn after arriving from Ontario about midnight Thursday.

''We made reservations a week ago and then drove for 28 hours,'' said Dean Priddy, 26. ''We couldn't sleep on the beach without getting locked up, so I guess we would have had to bunk with someone.''

Tracey Alfes and four girlfriends drove for three hours for their third spring break at Daytona Beach. When they arrived at the Holiday Inn Friday, they were told they might have to leave if the hotel failed its second inspection.

''We just got here and they couldn't even guarantee us a room - here or anywhere,'' said Alfes, 24. ''We made reservations in January, but we would have had to go home because everything is booked.